Grab your bear can or camp chair, kick your feet up and chew the fat about anything Sierra Nevada related that doesn't quite fit in any of the other forums. Within reason, (and the HST rules and guidelines) this is also an anything goes forum. Tell stories, discuss wilderness issues, music, or whatever else the High Sierra stirs up in your mind.

Trash, fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide and other hazardous material will soon be removed from a marijuana plot where 8,125 plants were removed July 16 in Sequoia National Park, according to Dana Dierkes, public information officer for Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

This plot is in the same area where additional marijuana plants were removed July 1, she said.

Officials are linking these marijuana plots to a Mexican drug trafficking organization, she said. No arrests have been made.

Unfortunately, you should be aware of the signs of illegal pot growth and quickly and quietly leave the area, whether it's a National Park or National Forest. There are fields south of Dinkey/Courtright as well. They pop up all over the place. Used to drive down to Mineral King and see the guys standing on the road with ice chests, waiting for their ride. No guarantee that knowing where this particular field is will keep you from running into another.

If you start seeing irrigation piping, or other signs of civilization, cultivated ground, booby traps (they use tripwires for example), a camp that looks like it's semi permanent, anything that looks suspicious, make a note of the location as you leave (mark it on the GPS or map). Chances are they already know you are there. Just go. Call it in when you get out of the wilderness.

You probably won't run into trouble unless you are going cross country. Since the authorities know where this one is, if it were anywhere near a trail, that trail would be closed to preserve the scene.